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I felt that such a direct and philosophical novel was too much to add to my sleepless nights. It seemed enough for me to address those immediate issues in my professional and social circles. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to playĪt the time, #MeToo had dominated conversations in my work and my neighborhood. But at the time, without reading more than the synopsis, all I could see was the abuse these women had endured. It’s a book about seeing beyond violence and grief. The novel unspools the women’s relationships, their attachment to faith, their anger and anguish, the prospect of healing, the potential to move on, and the possibility of forgiveness. The women of three families gather in a hayloft to debate what they all should do. Will they do nothing, stay and fight, or leave their insular community? After voting, there’s still no clear consensus. After authorities round up the accused men and the remaining men leave the community to bail the others out, the women gather to consider the future.

This point of reckoning is where Toews’s book begins. Once the truth came to light, the women were faced with a choice regarding their future. In truth, the women had been gassed with farm tranquilizers and assaulted by the men of their community. Lead to believe this was the work of Satan and evil spirits, possibly brought on by the women themselves, the women suffered in shock and silence. Women Talking is based on a true story about a Mennonite community in Bolivia in which, over several years, women were savagely assaulted at night. When Miriam Toews’s novel Women Talking was first published in the United States that year, I passed on reading it. Caring for the second, I largely steered away from media that dealt with sexual trauma. To address the first issue, I never saw movies in the theaters. It became important to protect my limited time-and tender heart. Aside from current events of the time, I had a newborn daughter and a toddler who needed constant attention.